The NHL's Board of Governors approved the realignment plan proposed last week.

The new four-division plan, featuring a new-look set-up for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, will go into effect next season.

The NHL and NHLPA each had input into the plan to realign the League into a more geographically appropriate two-conference, four-division format that features 16 teams in the Eastern Conference and 14 teams in the Western Conference.

The Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets are moving to the Eastern Conference to provide them the ability to play the majority of their games against teams in the same time zone. The Winnipeg Jets are moving to the Western Conference for the same reason.

The Dallas Stars are staying in the Western Conference, but moving into a division that includes five other teams from the Central time zone.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs will still consist of 16 teams, eight in each conference, but it will be division-based and a wild-card system has been added as a new wrinkle.

The top three teams in each division will make-up the first 12 teams in the playoffs. The remaining four spots will be filled by the next two highest-placed finishers in each conference, based on regular-season points and regardless of division. It will be possible, then, for one division to send five teams to the postseason while the other sends three.

The seeding of the wild-card teams within each divisional playoff will be determined on the basis of regular-season points. The division winner with the most points in the conference will be matched against the wild-card team with the lowest number of points; the division winner with the second-most points in the conference will play the wild-card team with the second fewest points.

The teams finishing second and third in each division will play in the first round of the playoffs. The winners of each series will play for the divisional championship.

The two divisional champions in each conference will then play in the conference finals to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.

The divisions will be temporarily referred to as Division A, Division B, Division C and Division D. Permanent names will be assigned later.

The Western Conference will house Division A and Division B, while Division C and D will consist of eight teams each and make up the Eastern Conference.

Division C has four Original Six franchises: Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs. The Buffalo Sabres, Florida Panthers, Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning are also in the division.

The Columbus Blue Jackets, Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals will join the New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins in Division D.

The new alignment ensures that all 30 teams play in all 30 arenas at least once per season.

The National Hockey League Players' Association has given its consent to play under the new Alignment and Playoff System for a minimum of three seasons, through the 2015-16 NHL season.

The new alignment:

Here is a breakdown of the new schedule matrix created for the new alignment plan:

Western Conference (7-team divisions)

Within Conference (Division): 29 games

* 5 games vs. five teams (3 Home/2 Away vs. two teams, 2 Home/3 Away vs. three teams) AND 4 games vs. one team (2 Home/2 Away). Teams rotated on a yearly basis.

oh well I guess true hockey rivalries come in the playoffs anyways....sigh

_________________2013 Lionbacker Fantasy Football Champion

March 14th, 2013, 1:04 pm

wjb21ndtown

Re: Realignment plan approved by Board of Governors

regularjoe12 wrote:

boo! we're not in a confrence with the blackhawks?? SHENNANNIGANNS!

oh well I guess true hockey rivalries come in the playoffs anyways....sigh

IMO we should be thankful... It would be good hockey, but I think we'd get the losing end of that deal for the next 3-5 years.

March 14th, 2013, 1:45 pm

regularjoe12

Off. Coordinator – Joe Lombardi

Joined: March 30th, 2006, 12:48 amPosts: 4006Location: Davison Mi

Re: Realignment plan approved by Board of Governors

wjb21ndtown wrote:

regularjoe12 wrote:

boo! we're not in a confrence with the blackhawks?? SHENNANNIGANNS!

oh well I guess true hockey rivalries come in the playoffs anyways....sigh

IMO we should be thankful... It would be good hockey, but I think we'd get the losing end of that deal for the next 3-5 years.

Meh, as far as win/loses go you're probably right. But as far as watching good hockey.....I dunno, Im an older guy and watching those two play against each other is still almost as fuun as the old Wings/ Avs games back when Patrick "WHA???" was in the net.

Oh the good ole days

_________________2013 Lionbacker Fantasy Football Champion

March 14th, 2013, 5:39 pm

TheRealWags

Modmin Dude

Joined: December 31st, 2004, 9:55 amPosts: 12312

Re: Realignment plan approved by Board of Governors

regularjoe12 wrote:

boo! we're not in a confrence with the blackhawks?? SHENNANNIGANNS!

oh well I guess true hockey rivalries come in the playoffs anyways....sigh

At least they won't have to travel across country (as much) next season, especially when the playoffs come around. Might also be able to finally stop everyone talking about 'Sid the Kid' and the Penguins being the 'greatest / most talented'

The Detroit Red Wings should wear a commemorative patch on their sweaters during their games in Anaheim, a symbol of their Western Conference playoffs swan song.

How about a broken alarm clock?

Welcome to the last of the 10:30 p.m. starts.

After these playoffs, no more games ending 30 minutes before last call at your favorite watering hole. No more having to wake up three hours later to get ready for work.

When the Wings move to the Eastern Conference next season, neighborhood baristas will shed a tear as business suffers from fans no longer needing a double shot of espresso to recover from a hard-fought overtime game in Vancouver or San Jose.

It made practical sense getting the Wings out of the West. They pushed hard for Eastern realignment because of the enormous physical toll endured from jumping multiple time zones, especially in the 1-1-1 format of the final three games of a seven-game series.

How weird will 7:30 p.m. road playoff starts feel?

But there was a badge of honor to be earned from battling the time as well as the team. It served as an extra test of resolve and resilience. And in a strange, almost masochistic way, those awfully late starts further strengthened the sense of hockey community in Detroit. Everyone was in it together. Those watching weren’t playing, weren’t taking the hits into the boards or absorbing the cuts to the face. But they believed that fighting through the yawns as midnight struck was an important contribution to the cause.

The late starts became a rallying cry. It was Detroit vs. the hockey world. The NHL kept the Wings in the Western Conference because they were one of the league’s premier road draws, ensuring excellent turnouts from transplanted Michiganders in hockey outposts such as California and Arizona. But it was a competitive disadvantage in the playoffs having an Eastern-time-zone team shuttling to and from Calgary, then San Jose in the next series and then Anaheim in the conference finals.

Didn’t the logistical challenges make victory in those series that much sweeter?

Perhaps it’s not coincidental that the last two times the Wings advanced to the Stanley Cup finals, they only had one Pacific-time opponent in those eight total series: Anaheim in the second round in 2009.

Staying up late, sleepless nights, and groggy, caffeine-obsessed mornings have become as much a part of Wings playoff tradition as Al Sobotka picking up an octopus and waving it before the delirious Joe Louis crowd.

It makes sense bringing an end to these 10:30 starts, but there’s also something special that many are going to miss about them as well.